What Every Guy Needs
by Ridley C. James
Summary: Tag to Episode 18: Flashlight. Jack gives Mac the gift that every guy needs.


What Every Guy Needs

By: Ridley C. James

A/N: So….I couldn't get this tag for Flashlight out of my head. It is just a simple little thing, but I hope it might make you smile. I'm sure others have jumped on this same kind of story, but can we really have too much Mac? I hope not. I promise a chapter of Guard Your Heart will be up this week. Consider this a peace offering for being so patient with my longer story. Thank you for all the very kind inquiries. Enjoy!

RcJ

The funny thing about having a house full of people was how incredibly quiet things quickly became after the people vacated. Maybe Mac took the stillness of his home and the solitude of the deck outside for granted but it had never seemed quite as peaceful as it did after his birthday party guests had departed.

"You still have one present left." Jack's voice broke Mac's appreciation and Mac watched as his partner got up from where he was sitting on the other side of the fire pit and retrieved a wrapped gift from behind one of the tables of food.

"The party was your gift." Mac sat up straighter as the older agent made his way over to him and grabbed a closer seat. They were the last two people left, even Bozer having turned in early, still licking his wounds after Riley's phone call with her new friend from Hawaii.

"If we're being completely honest, I got off cheap with the party, Dude." Jack grinned, handing Mac the gift and one of two beers he'd grabbed. "I stuck Phoenix with Kamekona's travel expenses. Matty and Riley chipped in on the food and booze, and Bozer made the cake. As delightful a Master of Ceremonies as I am, it's still not birthday present material for a guy's best friend."

"What's that old saying?" Mac set the beer down on the ground beside him and looked over the slim box wrapped in remnants of yesterday's Los Angeles Daily News and Duct tape. "It's the thought that counts."

Jack opened his beer and took a long drink. "Let's just hope you remember that when you see what I got you."

"Please tell me it's not the matching grass skirt to the coconut bra you got Matty." Mac was still traumatized by the modeling show that took place after too many rounds of celebratory toasts. "I can't un-see that image of Kamekona. Ever."

"Nah, you don't have the legs to pull it off." Jack gestured to the envelope taped on top. "Read the card first."

Mac tore the envelope from the top, grinning at the Hula dancers on the front of the card. Opening it to the inside he was surprised to find rows of Chinese letters in Jack's scrawl. His smile widened as he read the words.

"Told you I knew Mandarin, Brother," Jack crowed, looking beyond pleased with himself.

Mac rolled his eyes. "You realize you propositioned me, right?"

"Did not." Jack looked a little worried. "At worst, I might have asked you for directions to the closest bar, but I'm pretty sure I wished you a happy birthday and promised you another trip to Hawaii when and if we ever actually get a real vacation. It'd be fun to catch up with McGarrett."

Mac laughed, tucking the card back into the envelope."And this promised trip has nothing to do with seeing Kono again?"

"She's a married woman, Dude, and we both know I respect that institution." Jack lifted his beer bottle in a mock toast before taking another drink. "Even if it's one I never plan on entering."

"I could get used to going back to Paradise," Mac conceded. "Especially if no one is shooting at us, and there's no threat of an earthquake the next time around."

"I can't rule either of those scenarios out considering it is _us_ we're talking about, but I can guarantee you it won't be dull." Jack finished off his beer and tossed it into the recycling. "Jack Dalton's vacations are about as awesome as his parties."

"I've gotta' say this party was pretty great, even without the Piñata and fireworks." Mac gestured to the present. "Which is why this extra gift wasn't necessary."

"It was necessary." Jack leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He was suddenly serious. "It was as much for my benefit as it is for yours."

Now Mac was curious. He met his partner's gaze, noting Jack had probably gone past his self-imposed three beer limit. There was a glint in the dark gaze, something that hinted at anger.

"Are you alright, Man?" Mac's first thought was the mission, and more specifically the showdown with the six Chinese shooters. He and Jack hadn't actually talked about Mac's close call, but now Mac wondered if Jack was still pissed at his off the cuff plan, a plan that had literally left Mac's life in Jack's hands. It wasn't like that didn't happen routinely, but Mac typically wasn't reckless nor did he take Jack's willingness to do absolutely anything to protect him lightly. "Is this about what happened on the beach?"

"It's not that." Jack held Mac's gaze for a long moment. "It's about the conversation I had with Bozer on the flight home. He told me why you weren't so keen on the whole birthday party plan to begin with."

"Okay." Mac hadn't expected that, but he was just as surprised Bozer _hadn't_ spilled the beans in previous years when Jack had brought up the idea of throwing a party and Mac had repeatedly shot him down.

"I think it threw him when you agreed to let me do it, and maybe he thought I'd pushed you into it." Jack shook his head. "He was looking out for you, although he should know nobody makes you do any damn thing you don't want to do. And I sure as hell wouldn't push if I thought something wasn't in your best interest."

"It wasn't like I was keeping some big secret." Even as Mac said it, he knew that was exactly what he'd been doing.

Jack sighed. "You have every right to your privacy, Bud, but if I'd known, I might not have kept beating a dead horse and bumping against old wounds."

"It's not like that birthday still bothers me, Jack." Mac was full of lies today. "More like I find it embarrassing. Similar to how you explain the whole thing between you and Matty-that day was not exactly the high point of my life. I was a stupid kid, expecting my wish to come true. It was no big deal."

"Let me tell you something." Jack turned his body so he was facing Mac, their knees brushing against one another. "What happened between me and Matty, the whole reason I'm embarrassed by it, is because I screwed up big time. _Me_. My doing. Jack Dalton being a typical ass. I don't want to tell you about it, because I don't want you to think less of me, and because it would kill me if you had any doubts about trusting me."

"Nothing could shake my trust in you…" Mac started only to have Jack hold up a hand to cut him off.

"Unlike my mistake with Matty, that day your old man split, and didn't come back had absolutely nothing to do with the kid you were then, and it sure as hell doesn't even begin to speak to the man you are now. There's absolutely no reason for you to feel ashamed about it."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Mac understood what Jack was saying, but he'd learned the hard way that logic was not the language of a heart, especially a kid's heart. His father's leaving had left Mac feeling unworthy, almost ashamed, as if there was something wrong with him.

"I'm not mad about you not telling me, though I hope you know you can talk to me about anything. I wanted you to know I knew because it will help explain the gift." Jack tapped the present. "You'll understand when you open it."

Now Mac's interest was piqued. He tore open the wrappings and slid the top off the box to find a thick manila file inside. His heart caught as he read the name typed in bold letters across the top. A CIA stamp was emblazoned over the front of the dossier.

"I called in a favor, a few to be exact, from a buddy at the Farm," Jack told him. "That's everything, and I mean _everything_ , they know about your Dad. Where he was that day twenty years ago, where he is today, what he's been up to in the years in between."

Jack waited for Mac to look up, for their gazes to meet before he went on. "I didn't read it, and I'm not saying you should even open it. Hell, Kid, you can toss the damn thing in the fire if you want, and I wouldn't blame you one bit. But I want you to know I'd give anything to go back and change that birthday for you. If I'd been around then, no one would have hurt you like that. I would have tracked your bastard of a father down and drug his sorry ass back to that party. But I wasn't there and I can't change the past, but what I can do is give you the answers to the questions you had back then. Maybe help you to understand, to get it through that thick skull of yours, that him missing that party and all the other birthdays since is no reflection on you. It's not your shame, but his."

Mac didn't know what to say. Jack must have misunderstood his silence, rushing on to explain.

"I wasn't trying to overstep or make things harder for you, I just wanted to do something to make things as right as I could. I know it's not my place…"

"It is your place," Mac cut his partner off this time with a sharp look. He glanced at the file, ran his fingers over the word 'confidential' as he tried to keep his racing emotions in check. "You're my family, Jack. My problems are your problems and vice versa."

"Exactly." Jack nudged his knee, waited for Mac to look at him once more. "Whatever you decide to do with the information, whenever you want to use it, I'll be there. Bozer and Riley, too."

"Thank you." Mac carefully put the lid back on the box, set it off to the side of him. He was still trying to process that possible answers to the mystery he'd puzzled over for so long had just been handed to him on a silver platter or in this case, wrapped in yesterday's want ads, which was a bit ironic. What surprised Mac the most was that the old burning questions no longer seemed that important, like a day old headline that had run its course. Or maybe it was that Mac didn't need to find something he was no longer missing, not when he'd gotten something so much better instead. He looked up at Jack again, and managed a shaky smile. "I think I may just hold onto it for a while."

"Whatever you want." Jack nudged his knee again. "I've got your back, Brother."

"I know you do." Mac never doubted Jack's dedication, the lengths he'd go for him. Jack showing up was the one thing Mac could always count on, and when you grew up believing everyone you dared to love was destined to leave and let you down, that was the most priceless of presents. "And that's the best gift you could ever give me."

"Hold up, you haven't heard what I have planned for your birthday next year." Some of the storminess had left Jack's eyes, replaced by the more familiar mischief Mac was accustomed to.

"Let me guess, it involves Monster Trucks and donkeys."

"Dude, Monster trucks are awesome, and like I said before, every donkey needs a tail."

"Of course they do," Mac agreed, with a laugh and a shake of his head. "Just like every guy needs a Jack Dalton."

"If they're going to throw themselves in harm's way half as much as my partner does they sure as hell do." Jack folded his arms over his chest, lifting a brow. "Speaking of which…"

"Here it comes," Mac groaned, picking up the beer by his feet and opening it with a dramatic put upon sigh. "I knew you would not let that whole 'smart bullet' thing go."

And if Mac was being completely honest, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

The End.


End file.
